Tainted Love
by petite etoile22
Summary: RosxLucas .100 Drabbles. 100 prompts. Why? Because I think they're quite hot.
1. Television

_**This is a Ros/Lucas drabble-a-thon based on tv_100 prompts over at LJ.**_

_**Please review, if only to say how hot you think Richard Armitage is.**_

_**Disclaimer: Spooks is the property of the BBC and Kudos.**_

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Lucas is on his way out of the Grid when he spots her still staring at the rectangular sheet of glass. It is the news; as usual.

"If you carry on like that, you'll get square-eyes."

If she is surprised by his presence, neither her body nor voice show it. When she finally chooses to speak, her eyes never leave the screen.

"The basic principles behind what make this television works, are the same as those that cause bombs to detonate."

Lucas sits.

"Funny old world."

"Isn't it just?"

They watch in silence.

His eyes never leave her face.


	2. Sunshine

Ros hates the sunshine. But she is surprised to find that Lucas shared her sentiment. She thought after all those years of incarceration, he would crave the sunlight. They sit inside the forgery suite, whilst everyone else takes a picnic lunch outside.

"I thought you'd be joining them," she remarks.

"I don't have a sunny enough disposition. You?"

"Unfortunately, terrorists don't disappear because the sun's out."

"If only counter-terrorism were as simple as a wooden stake through the heart."

Neither of them mentions that on beautiful sunny days like these, the shadows of their past tortures simply grow larger.


	3. Music

Songs mean alot to Lucas North. They were what kept him sane during his time in Russia. Every important moment in his life has a song attached to it, like the soundtrack to a film. There is a song for when he met Elizabeta, and when he finally married her.

But Connie has just blown herself up, Harry is missing in action, and Lucas finds that music eludes him now. There is just static silence.

She pours him another measure of scotch, watching him down it straight, before mimicking him.

They're drunk.

She kisses him.

His music plays once more.


	4. Love

They don't love each other.

It's their mantra whenever they become a tangle of limbs and lust.

They can't love each other.

Not after Elizabeta. Not after Adam. Not after Russia.

So it's not because he loves her, that Lucas knows to bring her favourite flowers after a bad day.

It's not because she loves him, that Ros tells him the full effects that 'lethal' injection has had on her.

It's not because they love each other.

But when the dark hoods come off their heads to reveal Harry, when they comprehend that they're not going to die, when they're both relieved that _they_ (plural, together) are safe; they realise that it is.

It is because they love each other.


	5. Hate

She hates it when he descends into that dark silence of his.

He hates it that she won't admit she does the exact same thing.

"Talk to me, please."

She hates how weak she sounds.

"It's nothing."

He hates that he's lying to her.

"How are you holding up, Ros?"

He hates that he already knows the answer.

"Fine."

She hates that she's too proud to let him in.

"Fine."

He hates that he feels like he's abandoning her.

She hates that she feels abandoned.

And when they both finally breakdown in each other's arms; they hate that it took so long to trust themselves.


	6. Family

Eventually, he learns of her notorious family. Or rather, some bitchy analyst (who's no Ruth, as Harry keeps telling him) forces Ros's past on him.

"They didn't even show up for her funeral!"

He can practically see the glee in her voice.

"Disownment, it's a brilliant way to save on christmas presents."

And hears the strength in _hers_.

"Do you miss them Ros?" He asks later.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Do you remember what I said to you after my meeting with the Home Secretary?"

"Families mess with your head."

"In mine, it was an art form."

"What about colleagues?"

She can hear the flirtatious smile in his voice, and feels his arm snake round her waist.

"Colleagues? I distinctly remember colleagues being okay."


	7. Magic

Ros bursts out laughing, and Lucas marvels at how loud and unrestrained it is. He loves the fact that no one else knows this side of her.

"You were an amateur magician in your youth?"

"Yes." Lucas replies seriously.

He smiles when she bursts into another peal of giggles, before sobering up at an incredible speed; a nifty trick of hers.

"Well, what tricks did you do?"

"I made things disappear."

"Show me one of your magic tricks now."

She's barely finished her sentence when he pulls the bedsheet off her body in one fluid movement.

"See?"

"That, is a very clever trick."

She rewards him with a kiss.


	8. 5 Senses

He's blindfolded, leaving him with only four of his senses intact; he's not complaining though. The sensation of her nails softly scratching his flesh, is almost enough to drive him wild.

She whispers into his ear, her breath tickling his lobe. The nuances in her voice are making him tingle with anticipation.

"Do you trust me Lucas?"

Lucas nods, speech seems to be beyond him right now. He trusts her; he just isn't sure if he can trust himself, and refrain from ripping off the blindfold and jumping her there and then. He can feel her weight on top of him, and when she leans in close, he is blessed with the scent of her perfume. It is sharp, and reminds him of pink grapefruits.

They kiss; tongues fighting for dominance.

She tastes of spearmint.

Lucas hear the blindfold come off with a faint 'whoosh', but knows better than to open his eyes yet. When he does, he's greeted by the sight of her wearing his red tie.

And nothing else.


	9. Monday

It's Monday. Ros hates mondays. She hates them more than she hates Richard Dolby. It doesn't help that she has to spend it in a cramped surveillance van with three officers from six. She thinks she is on the verge of cabin fever when her phone beeps. Just a set of co-ordinates and a time. Ros sighs before turning back to the tiny monitor in front of her.

It's eight on the dot when she rings Lucas's doorbell with a tired smile.

"And I thought women were supposed to be crap at reading maps," he jokes as he ushers her in, hand resting on the small of her back.

"I've had a lot of practice."

Ros kisses him passionately when she sees the romantic dinner he's prepared.

Lucas shifts in his sleep, and Ros just curls herself in closer, head resting on his warm, solid chest.

Perhaps mondays aren't so bad after all.


	10. Fall

Lucas North can tell you the exact moment he fell for Ros Myers.

It wasn't when she led the team through the aftermath of Adam's death with strength and composure.

It wasn't when she calmly and effectively dealt with a quadruple bomb threat to London.

It wasn't when she held her own in front of the Home Secretary.

It wasn't when she played down the significance of her presence in Meynell's hotel room without back-up.

It wasn't when she comforted Jo.

It wasn't when he saw the pain and horror in her eyes after Dean's execution.

It wasn't even when she acknowledged his bullet wound with a brusque nod, and ventured down the tunnel knowing that she had a potential corpse on her hands.

No.

The moment Lucas North fell for Ros Myers, was when she looked him right in the eyes and confessed to him that she didn't know what she would do if Harry never came back.

That single moment when he realised that she was just as broken as he was.


	11. Drama

They both admit that they're damn good actors, though Lucas suspects that she has a slight edge on him. That doesn't matter because they don't act when they're alone together; there's no need.

The curtain has come down for the night.

Lucas pulls her closer to him, because this Ros is breathtakingly vulnerable. He was surprised when he first found out about her. He never thought it possible for a person to attached nearly all their self-confidence to a job. He suspects she wasn't like this before.

Before.

Her 'death' was certainly dramatic. Her resurrection more so, perhaps.

But Lucas is more concerned with what happened after.

He wants to know the events that occurred in the interval between this act and the first.

He knows he has a while to wait.

Neither Ros seems ready to tell him yet.


	12. Passion

Despite her frosty exterior, Ros Myers is a passionate person at heart.

She likes the touch of human skin on her own, arguments, noise, deep reds, violent outbursts, the heat of the human body; the heat of a nearby explosion.

She never told anyone that Juliet's injection burned her to her very core. No one but Lucas.

Because Lucas understands and shares her hidden passion.

Together, they manage to keep it in check.

Together, there's no longer any risk that it will destroy them.


	13. Jealousy

After Ana, they both thought Ros would be the one to get jealous, so it comes as a surprise when Lucas feels the cold stab of jealousy in his abdomen.

She tries to reassure him.

"It might not even come to that."

He knows it will.

She knows it will.

"You're right, it might not even come to that."

It comes to that.

Lucas knows as soon as she crawls into his bed smelling of sex, and a man's scent that is definitely not his own.

Jealousy overwhelms Lucas and he turns his back on her.

"You need a shower."

"I know."

He watches as she walks slowly to the bathroom, wincing slightly with every movement.

He listens to the sound of the shower running, followed by the sound of her stifled sobs.

He sighs.

'Jealousy is just a crueler form of stupidity,' he thinks.


	14. Still

Lucas stands at the door to the shower, not even flinching when some stray droplets hit his hand; the water's scalding. He knows better than to invade Ros's little protective bubble, so he merely waits for her to burst it of her own accord. Neither of them move.

"I'm sorry, Lucas."

He stays silent. The situation has become twisted somehow; he doesn't like it.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

"Harry's given me the day off."

They both know she'll be back on the Grid in a few hours' time.

"You should take it."

"I'm sorry. I had to do it Lucas. I didn't have a choice."

"I'll take it with you."

Lucas endures the scalding water as he finally moves, and draws her into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, Ros. I'm so sorry," he whispers into her soaked hair.

They cry.

Time seems to stand still.

Tomorrow can wait.


	15. Impossible

What's just been proposed seems impossible to them, despite it being an everyday occurrence. The Service need the safehouse that is currently Ros's place of residence. Harry suggests that they move in together. After all, the Service knows they're in a relationship, even if the team don't.

And so Ros finds herself standing outside Lucas's flat with a couple of suitcases and several boxes.

It's small. And cramped. And they're both scared of intruding on the other's personal space.

Then they realise that they have been doing this for weeks; it just hasn't been as permanent.

Suddenly, the 'impossible' becomes a simple and mundane 'possible'.


End file.
